Doctorate

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

As a doctoral option, we offer the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program. This part-time or job-integrated doctoral program is aimed at High Potentials with preferably a minimum of five years post-qualifying full-time work experience in all relevant fields. The fully English-language program is offered by School of International Business and Entrepreneurship (SIBE) in cooperation with Edinburgh Business School (EBS) of Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, Scotland. The respective doctorate is based on an independent research or innovation project either on the research interests Leadership, Personality, Innovation or on a company-specific topic. The focus is on transfer-oriented research that contributes to providing immediate solutions to questions arising from corporate practice.

Program

The DBA program is structured to be completed within three years. The program consists of two stages, the Course Stage and the Research Stage. During the Course Stage, the three courses Research Methods 1, 2, and 3 are to be completed as online courses, each of which is concluded with a written examination. In addition to the courses, EBS offers an optional on-site seminar, which is held on campus in Edinburgh or in Dubai. The dates will be announced as soon as they are published by EBS. During the Course Stage, you will begin to work on the topic of your doctoral thesis in close consultation with your supervisor. After successfully passing the three courses Research Methods 1, 2, and 3, you will have written a research proposal and submitted it to the Edinburgh Business School.

In the subsequent Research Stage, you will begin to execute your planned research project that has been agreed upon with your supervisor. You work independently on your doctoral thesis, collect data and evaluate them. DBA progress will be monitored during the Research Stage by the Annual Review Meetings. This will be done through two partial submissions of your thesis manuscript, which you will present at an Annual Review Meeting and which will be reviewed following your presentation. You will also write a Personal Development Plan and have the opportunity to join a Research Center. At the end of the Research Stage, you will submit your written dissertation and defend it orally before a committee in Edinburgh.

Examinations

3 courses: Research Methods 1, 2 and 3, each assessed by a written examination
Research Proposal
Thesis
Oral defence of the doctoral thesis

Dr. Katharina Helm

Head of Doctorate Program
Email: helm@steinbeis-sibe.de
Phone: +49 7032 945890

Contact

Good to know

Target group: Excellent and ambitious high potentials with a Master’s degree, ideally at least 5 years of professional experience and very good English skills
Degree: Doctor of Business Administration
Duration: min. 6 semesters, start is possible any time
Cooperation with Edinburgh Business School (EBS) of Heriot-Watt University, Scotland (title-awarding university)
Self-financing or financing by companies possible
The three mandatory online courses can be completed independently in terms of time and location, while the optional on-site seminars take place on campus in Edinburgh or Dubai. The oral defense of the dissertation will be held in Edinburgh.
Part-time doctorate – full flexibility – intensive support

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Brochure

Application

Admission & Application

Successfully completed Master’s degree
English language skills at level C1 according to the European Framework of Reference for Languages
Ideally at least 5 years of professional experience
Successful completion of the selection process
An initial idea for a doctoral dissertation in Leadership, Personality, and Innovation in case of financing the DBA program by yourself or
A business company, that supports your doctorate and for which you will carry out research in a relevant field. We would be glad to support you in coordinating your research project and/or finding an appropriate partner company.

Your application documents

Application form
Letter of motivation (in English)
Curriculum Vitae (in English)
Area of Research Interest
Master’s degree certificate with an overview of grades (Transcript of Records)
IELTS 6.5 or equivalent
Employment references
Contact details of two references and one letter of recommendation per person

Please apply via our online application.

Selection process

The selection process for the DBA program is carried out in several stages. After a formal review of your documents, the DBA team will have an initial telephone interview with you, which will then be followed by a first personal conversation with the potential supervisor of your doctoral thesis. Then, the decision about admission to the program will be made.

KODE®-Evaluation

In case of your admission to the DBA program, you will perform the KODE®-Evaluation. It serves as an instrument for competency diagnostics and development, and has been approved by an independent institute according to DIN 33430. It confronts you with situations that reflect on skills that are essential for everyday work life. The KODE®-Evaluation gives us an overview of your competencies and experience so that we can make a sound decision on final admission to our DBA program. In addition, the assessment provides you with a very good basis for your own profile of strengths and weaknesses and helps you to develop your competencies in a well-founded manner.

Fees & Funding

Financing of the DBA program by the doctoral student:

The topic of the doctoral thesis focuses on the three main research areas of leadership, personality, and innovation or the areas of tension that arise from the combination of these topics.

Conditions:

The registration fee amounts to 2,000 €, to be paid by the first monthly installment. The program fees include:

Intensive support by a professor of SIBE
Support by an academic staff member of EBS
Support by administrative staff of SIBE
Allocation of course material and use of specific IT programs (e.g. for data analysis in the context of the doctoral thesis)
Access to study portal of EBS, online libraries and research platforms

Financing of the DBA program by a company:

The doctoral thesis deals with a topic from the direct corporate practice of the financing company.

Conditions:

Parts of the costs are subject to VAT and social assurance contribution.

* The registration fee amounts to 2,650,-€, which is due as the first installment. Therefore, the program costs amount to 15,960,-€ in the first year. The total program costs (3 years) amount to 45,000,-€.

** Additional travel costs for the examinations and optional attendance of the seminars have to be calculated. The assumption of these costs as well as all other additional costs, e.g. for issuing certificates, graduation, and repetition of examinations, are agreed between the company and the doctoral student.

The cost of the graduation ceremony varies between 45 £ and 175 £, depending on whether you attend the ceremony in person or not
Re-examination: £160
Postgraduate Certificate in Business Research Methods (optional): 65 £

The program fees include:

Intensive support of the company-specific research project by a SIBE professor
Support by an academic staff member of EBS
Support by administrative staff of SIBE
Allocation of course material and use of specific IT programs (e.g. for data analysis in the context of the doctoral thesis)
Access to study portal of EBS, online libraries and research platforms

We are happy to support our applicants in their search for a suitable partner company. Similarly, we are also glad to assist companies in finding a suitable candidate for the DBA program. Please contact us for this at helm@steinbeis-sibe.de.